Dance Moms

First, I need to offer my sincerest apologies for missing last week’s Dance Moms premiere recap, but you’ll have to take that up with Mother Nature and her nasty thunderstorms and ridiculously long (and hot and oh so muggy!) power outages. Second, did we really miss much? Abby Lee Miller, true to fashion, flaked on practice and was extra nasty to over compensate for her evident insecurities caused by relocating to Los Angeles. Jill discovered once again that no matter how much bum she kisses, Kendall will never be Abby’s favorite. Basically, Abby was mean, yada yada yada, Nia was discounted, Holly was fuming, Jill was confused as to what exactly she needs to do to cement Kendall in Abby’s good graces, and Maddie was revered. A recap in one paragraph…who knew my wordy self was capable of such a thing?

It’s the second week in LA for the ALDC (this time around, at least), and the moms are still harping on Abby’s erratic behavior. Why anyone is still surprised by her antics is beyond me! The moms are surprised that Abby is in attendance at rehearsal (ehh, she’s “slightly” there), and Abby takes no time building up Maddie and tearing down Nia who doesn’t back down to her teacher. At. All. Go Nia! Of course, Nia ends up on the bottom of the pyramid followed by JoJo for timing errors. Shockingly, Maddie rounds out the bottom rung for not standing out in the group routine. MacKenzie is third for taking direction well, and Kendall is runner up to Kalani’s top spot on the pyramid. Kendall didn’t perform last week, but her video premiered which garnered her a higher spot. Kalani reigns supreme for her exceptional solo. So she forgot a few eight-counts…she improvised like a champ. Jill interrupts to say that a family commitment will keep Kendall from performing this week, but Kendall promises she’ll still be at rehearsals. Abby’s eye rolls say it all.

Forget fad diets, lap band surgeries, or even good old fashioned exercise. Dance Moms controversial star Abby Lee Millerdidn’t take any of the more traditional routes when it comes to her recent weight loss. Nope, instead the Lifetime star shed several dress sizes (she went from a 24 to a 16) due to a string of sad life changes and bad luck.

As much as I hate to admit it, Abby looks great (as evidenced from the photos of her LA studio opening), but she reveals that losing a significant amount of weight was never her intention…although she’s very happy with the results. The dance instructor turned reality mogul is speaking out against rumors she went under the knife for her new figure, citing her mother’s death to colon cancer in early 2014 as a big catalyst.

Several members of the show have temporarily relocated to L.A. – including Maddie Ziegler – even though Maddie just recently purchased a million-dollar house in Pittsburgh from her earnings. So just how much are the stars of Dance Moms earning!? You’re about to find out!

The mothers and daughters of Dance Moms showed up to support Abby Lee Miller at the grand opening of Abby Lee Dance Company LA on Saturday night. Which begs the question, contractual obligation or Abby is not really the wicked shrew she appears to be on Dance Moms?

Well, apparently the hemisphere doesn’t make a difference when it comes to Abby Lee Miller’s hateful ways, but the mothers on last night’s Dance Moms may have annoyed me even more than the tyrannical teacher. At least we got to see some precious animals and some great performances. The girls are spending their down time feeding kangaroos and koalas, and even though Holly, Nia, Jessalyn, and JoJo are in attendance, the girls won’t be performing in the upcoming expo with their ALDC teammates. Kira and Kalani are touring Sydney on their own, and Holly finds it odd that Nia attends everything and isn’t included, but the opposite is true for Kira and Kalani.

The group number is a Mad Max theme, and Holly interrupts to share that Nia will be giving a concert in Melbourne the same day the group will perform. She’d love to have all of her friends and Nia’s teammates to come show their support. Jill doesn’t see how they’ll be able to do both their performance and Nia’s show in one day–sorry! Abby doesn’t even pretend to hide her disgust, rolling her eyes and making faces. Jessalyn then scolds the team for making fun of JoJo after a video was leaked online. The girls offer up their apologies, and JoJo handles herself more maturely than any of the mothers. Holly and Jessalyn complain that their daughters are being excluded, but Jill believes this is Holly’s punishment for not allowing Abby to manage Nia’s music career. Jessalyn confronts Abby about why some dancers are constantly criticized, yet others can make big mistakes that are never addressed. To whom could she be referring? Abby shares that she tends to humiliate those who repeat mistakes in hopes of making them realize their issues. Jill breaks it down in simpler terms…Maddie is protected from criticism.

G’day readers! It looks like we’re all still gluttons for punishment when it comes to Abby Lee Miller and the drama of Dance Moms, but this time we’re cringing while the girls explore an entirely different hemisphere. Koala bears make even the nastiest of people much easier to tolerate, right? Plus, those accents! Abby arrives at the airport, and of course, things are stressful right from the start. Abby has misplaced her passport (and license and credit cards) and there are tears, y’all! The ALDC has already arrived in Australia to perform at the Astra Awards which Jill touts as Down Under’s Emmys. Note to Jill…save the duck face for the tweens!

Melissa, who has clearly opted for the international data plan, calls Abby to find out why she’s missing in action. When Abby laments that she’s lost her passport, Melissa starts listing places where Abby could have left it. Geez, Melissa! If she knew where she left it, it wouldn’t be lost. Glad to see some things don’t change with the time zones! Abby won’t be arriving until the day of the event, and she suggests that only Maddie perform since she won’t be there to micromanage. Hold up! Jill and Holly interject that all of the girls were invited to participate, to which Abby retorts, “Show me your invitation.” When Jill counters that Maddie didn’t receive a personal invitation, Abby snarks that she can pull up the e-mail that specifically requests Maddie’s presence. Abby warns Holly that she won’t put up with any of her crap. After all, Holly, Nia. Jessalyn, and JoJo weren’t included in Abby’s plans…they are just tagging along for the trip.

Abby Lee Miller wants it known there is “absolutely” nothing Holly Frazier can do to restore her tepid standing on Dance Moms and she won’t be returning to the show. Interestingly, Holly seems to confirm she and Nia are done with ALDC, which is currently filming its 6th season. So does that mean a mid-season exit for Nia?

There was apparently drama at the recent Reality TV Awards where Abby stormed away from Holly on the red carpet after calling her “the worst.” Of course Holly had a more eloquent explanation for their issues. “It’s unfortunate. I think with any type of evolution with relationships there would be hope that there would be opportunities to repair it. As a person, I thought I gave an example of how we could and it’s unfortunate that she thinks we can’t.”

For comparison’s sake, part three of the season 6 reunion logged 4.29 million viewers and the season 6 average was 3.87 million viewers. While the decline is troublesome, IMHO, Real Housewives of Atlanta still brings more viewers to Bravo than the others in the franchise. Case in point: this week’s episode of Real Housewives of New York attracted just 1.385 million viewers.